Method of making shoe-blanks



s. 1. WENTWORTH.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOE BLANKS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, I915.

Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JER- METHOD OFMAKING SHOE-BLANKS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 14, 1920.

Application filed May 29, 1915. Serial No. 31,260.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL J. WENT- WORTH, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Newport, in the county of Campbell and State ofKentucky, have invented certain Improvements in Methods of MakingShoe-Blanks, of which the following description, in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters onthe drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to a method of making shoe blanks and will bedescribed hereinafter in connection with the building of a heel forboots or shoes, although it may be practised advantageously in themanufacture of other kinds of blanks used in boot and shoe making.

In the process of heel building, as customarily practised, a pluralityof indivicual lifts, usually of graduated sizes, are pasted andassembled in the form of a heel blank, which is put under pressure foran instant while a nail is driven through the lifts to aid in securingthem together. Af-

ter a considerable quantity of these heel blanks has accumulated, theyare piled upon a board, another board is placed upon them and the wholeis subjected to pressure in a screw press. Inasmuch as several piles ofheels are placed upon the board and there is more or less variation inthe heights of the individual heels, it frequently happens that many ofthe heels receive little, if any, pressure from the screw. Furthermore,a sufficient interval elapses between the building of the first heelsand the placing of the accumulation of heels in the press to allow thepaste in many of the heels to become more or less set or crystallizedand lose its adhesive quality, so that the lifts do not adhere togethertightly, no matter how much pressure they may receive. There is aresulting tendency in a considerable portion of the heels to check,which is very detrimental to the appearance of the shoes to which theheels are attached.

The main object of this invention is to provide a method of assemblingand securing together the parts of a heel or other blank in a rapid,economical and effective manner, producing at a minimum cost a blank ofsuperior quality, free from the ob jectionable features above described.

Broadly considered, one of the most important steps in the processconstituting the present invention consists in subjecting a blankcomposed of a plurality of pieces, such, for example, as a heel blank,consisting of a number of lifts coated with an adhesive and assembledinto the desired form, to a plurality of distinct and separateapplications of pressure before the adhesive has had time to set orcrystallize, whereby the adhesive is quickly rendered tacky and thelifts are caused to adhere together very tightly.

When a gouged or concave lift is included in a heel built according tousual methods, the pressure of the heel press is practically all exertedupon the edge portion of the heel. When the heel is thereaftercompressed in the heel compressing machine, wherein a convex die is usedto form a concave heel seat and the interior portion of the heel is veryheavily compressed, the paste, which has by this time dried andcrystallized, is broken up by the substantial shifting of the liftswhich occurs in the compressor. The result is that the edges of thelifts are no longer held tightly together and the heel is very liable tocheck.

Another object of the invention is to overcome the difiiculty justmentioned and, accordingly, in one aspect of the invention, a novelmethod of heel building is provided, in the practice of which aplurality of lifts, including one which is gouged or concaved, areassembled, theedge portion of the heel blank is subjected to pressureand, immediately thereafter, the interior portion of the blank issubjected to pressure in such a manner as to produce a concavity in theheel seat surface before the paste has set or crystallized.

A further object of the invention is to provide a method of shaping orforming shoe blanks by a progressive action involving the application ofa series of successive pressures. When this method is practised inbuilding a heel blank, for example, the blank is so shaped and compactedas greatly to facilitate the subsequent operation of the heel compressoror, it may be, entirely eliminate the necessity for that operation.

In the preferred manner of practising the method of my invention, thepile of assema large number of bled lifts is subjected to successivemomentary applications of moderate pressure, and it is preferable to usea suitably formed instrument in applying at least part of the successivepressures, with the end in view of forming the cup or concavity in theheel seat, which has heretofore been made by the heel compressor.

The lifts of the heel produced by my method, when practised in itspreferred manner, adhere very tightly together and the heel is verycompact. It is substantially freefromthe tendency to check at the edgesand'it is sosolidand well formed as greatly to facilitate the subsequentoperation of the heel compressor, or, it may be, to eliminate entirelythe necessity for performing the compressing operation. practice of-mymethod, to perform all the steps necessary to produce such a product,but it should be understood that one or more of the steps maybe omittedwithout departing fromthe inventionQthescope of which is limited only asdefined in the claims.

I shall now describe my invention in detail as practised in building aheel for boots or shoes, although it should be understood that itsutility is not limited to heel building, but that the method may bepractised advantageously in the manufacture of' other kinds of shoeblanks.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 shows a heel blank built by theusual method as it appears whentaken from the heel press;

Fig. 2 shows a heel in a suitable holding device ready to undergo thefirst step of the method of the present invention;

Figs. 3, at and 5 illustrate succeeding steps of the method;

Fig. 6 shows a completed heel blank built by the improved method; and

7 shows a partially assembled heel blank including. a gonged or concavedlift.

In building. a. heel by my method, some or all of the surfaces of theheel lifts are coated with. an adhesive, whichis preferably of a quickdrying character, and the lifts are assembled in a pile havingsubstantially the shape of the desired blank. The lifts may be eitherwhole lifts or pieced, and may be made of leather, leatherboard-or anyother suitable material.

After the pile oflifts has been assembled into substantially the desiredform, the lifts be more accurately alined by subjecting them to edgepressure in some sort of cl amping device, and it is preferred that thisshall be done, but this step is by no means essential to the practice ofthe method in a broader sense.

Fig. 2 shows a clamping device which may conveniently be used inpractising the method. A pair of edge clamping jaws 10 s arranged toengage the sides, and curved I prefer, in the rear portion of the heelblank 12 in order to aline the lifts and insure that the blank shall besymmetrical in form. The blank maybe placed in the clamp by hand orbyany suitable automatic mechanism as desired. Now, while the adhesiveis still soft and before it has had time to crystallize or set, the heelis subjected to a moderate pressure. This may be done with any suitableor desired form of press. In the drawings, a table 14 is shown, uponwhich the heel is supported while a reciprocating plunger 16 is causedto descend with suiiicien-t force=to exert the required pressure uponthe work. The pres sure is released after a brief period of time andagain applied momentarily, this operation being repeated until the heelhas-been subjected to a considerable number of suc cessive applicationsof pressure. The alter nate application and release of pressure causesthe adhesive to be thoroughly distributed between the lifts and wellworked into their surfaces, which are brought into very intimate contactand adhere very tightly together as soon as the adhesive begins to set.I have found by experiment that the application of a succession ofmoderate pressures to the individual blanks with intermediate periods ofrelease, procuces results much superior to those produced by a singleapplication of pressure, even though the latter be very great.

In order to secure the greatest economy in commercial operation I preferto assemble the lifts by'hand and then place the heels one by one in anautomatic press which shall exert successive pressures upon them for aperiod of time suiiicient to insure thorough distribution of theadhesive and knitting together of the lifts. he operative is thus ableto devote his entire time to the assembling of the. lifts, and theproduction of heels is very rapid. It: will be apparent, iowever, thatthe method may be performed entirely by hand, if desired.

I prefer. to use one or more convex dies for exerting at least part ofthe separate pressures upon the heel blank and find that I am able, byso doing, to secure a well formed cup or concavity in the heel seat by aprogressive action with moderate pressure, although exceedingly heavypressure is required to obtain this result by a single operation in theusual heel compressing machine. in Figs. 3, 4t and 5, I have shown aseries of convex dies 18, 20, 22, which; have been found in practice tobe suitable for use in the practice of my method. It will be ob servedthat the dies are of different degrees of convexity. I prefer first tosubjectthe heel blank to pressure upon the fiat table, as shown in Fig.2, the pressure being exerted upon the edges of the blank, and then tosubject it successively to the action of the con yeX dies 18,20, 22,which have faces of increasingly greater curvature, in the order named,thus exerting increasingly greater pressure upon the interior of theblank. In order to secure the best results, I have, in practice,subjected the blank to a plurality of separate pressures in each of thepositions illustrated in Figs. 2, 3, l and 5, thus knitting the liftstogether and forming the concavity in the heel seat in a progressivemanner and obtaining superior results with moderate pressures. Theformation of this con: cavity may be greatly facilitated by followingthe common practice of building a gouged or concaved lift into the heel,as illustrated in Fig. 7. The process is continued until the adhesivehas set sufficiently to prevent separation or loosening of the lifts,after which the blank is ready to be disposed of in any way desired.

T contemplate the use of the usual heel building nail to aid in securingthe lifts permanently together, if desired, although I have found thatby using a suitable adhesive, heels of very high grade may be producedby my novel method without the use of a nail or nails. One of theadvantages of the invention lies in the fact that heels are produced,the lifts of which are so well secured together by the adhesive that noheel building nail is necessary, a condition which is desired by manymanufacturers.

I have found in practice that heels producerhby the novel method hereindescribed are solid, smooth and well formed and are superior in bothquality and appearance to a heel made by the ordinary method, which ismore or less rough and frequently checks around the edges, as shown inFig. 1.

An improved machine, by the aid of which my novel method may beadvantageously practised is made the subject-matter of an applicationfor Letters Patent of the United States, Serial No. 31,259, filedconcurrently herewith, but as above stated, my method is not dependentfor its success upon any particular machine or apparatus.

Having explained the nature of my invention and set forth fully how itmay be practised, what I claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States is l. The method of preparing blanks forboots or shoes which comprises assembling, without the application ofpressure, a sufficient number of pieces coated with an adhesive to forma completeblank, and immediately thereafter, before the adhesive has hadtime to set or crystallize, subjecting the individual blank to a seriesof distinct and separate applications of pressure separately from andindependently of any other blank.

2. The method of building heels which comprises assembling a pluralityof lifts coated with an adhesive into the form of a blank andimmediately thereafter, before the adhesive has had time to set orcrystallize, subjecting the individual blank throughout to a series ofsuccessive applications of pressure, the successive applications ofpressure on the interior portion of the blank progressively increasingin amount.

3. The method of preparing heels which comprises assembling, without theapplication of pressure, a sufficient number ofpasted lifts to form aheel, and immediately thereafter, before the paste has had time to setor crystallize, subjecting the individual heel to a series of distinctand separate applications of pressure progressively increasing inamount.

at. The method of building heels which comprises assembling a pluralityof pasted lifts, one of which is gouged or concaved, to form a heel,subjecting the edges of the heel to pressure exerted normally to thefaces of the lifts, and, immediately thereafter, subjecting the interiorportion of the heel to pressure to produce a concavity in the heel seatsurface.

5. The method of building heels which comprises assembling a pluralityof pasted lifts, one of which is gouged or concaved to form a heel,subjecting the edges of the heel to pressure, and thereafter subjectingthe interior portion of the heel to a series of progressively increasingpressures to produce a concavity in the heel seat surface.

6. The method of building heels which comprises assembling a pluralityof lifts pasted with a quick drying adhesive, to form a heel, subjectingthe edges of the heel to pressure exerted normally to the faces of thelifts, and immediately thereafter, before the paste has had time to setor crystallize, subjecting the interior portion of the heel to pressureseparately from and independently of any other heel.

7. The method of preparing blanks for boots or shoes which comprisesassembling a suflicient number of pieces coated with a quick dryingadhesive to form a complete blank, immediately thereafter, before theadhesive has had time to set or crystallize, subjecting the individualblank to a rapid succession of distinct and separate applications ofpressure separately from and independently of any other blank, andwholly releasing the blank from pressure between successive applicationsthereof.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

SAMUEL J. VVENTXVORTH.

